As I am sure many of you are aware, it is soon approaching the AP Testing season. I am currently in AP Calculus AB. The only class that I could even potentially get out of would be Math 1060, which is the Calculus 1 class. So what do most engineering majors do? Do they leave in and start in 1060 or take it and move straight on to Calc 2?
I also took the AP Chemistry test last year and got a 3. So, I get out of Chemistry 1010. Is it recommended for me to use that credit, knowing that I will probably have to take a few more chemistry classes?
If you are currently an engineering major, what did you do? If you are accepted into engineering, what do you plan on doing? Any insight into what Clemson prefers would be helpful as well.
Depending how well you do on the math placement test that you will take before your orientation…(orientation is when you sign up for your classes), if you place out of 1060 & 1080, you will not need to take either, even if you pass the AP exam and only get credit for 1060. And, if you don’t place out of either (it does happen), then you will still be able to use your AP credit for 1060 leaving you with taking 1080, preferably your 1st semester. You can retake 1060 if you want for a refresher course, but it is totally up to you.
As far as AP Chem. My daughter took it and passed with a 3, but she felt she was not prepared from not having the best AP Chem teacher at the time, so she retook Chemistry and she was glad she did. Mind you, she is a very science & math minded girl. Again, retaking is up to you.
Clemson advisers will tell you to use whatever credit you have going towards your studies, but it really does make sense to reevaluate how you feel about each credit and if you feel well prepared to step into the next level course. Good luck to you-
I was accepted into engineering (not sure where I am going though). This is purely anecdotal but the engineers I know have said that calc for engineers can be different than Ap Calc, so I think Im going to retake all the core math and sciences.
My son took AB and BC in high school and did well on his math placement test. He ended up not taking 1060 or 1080 and jumped right in at 2060. Things worked out OK in both 2060 and 2080, but one of the things that hurt him was the stringent formatting in the way that problems had be set-up, worked, and answers shown. His AB and BC teachers hadn’t emphasized this and he definitely was behind the curve on meeting this expectation - even though he could arrive at the correct solutions. If you start out at 1060 then I think you’d be introduced to that from the get-go.
He also could have skipped Chem 1010 due to his AP scores but opted to take at Clemson since he was leaning toward a ChemE major.
And just as parental advice - I think that sometimes students opt out of core classes that they would do well in and the GPA boost would be beneficial down the road when more difficult classes kick in.
Good luck at Clemson! My son loves it there and I was a Clemson engineering grad many years ago. Go Tigers!